ILB Anthony Hitchens, More Than a Hole Filler

When the Kansas City Chiefs General Manager, Brett Veach, reached a deal with Anthony Hitchens on Tuesday morning, he was doing more than just filling a hole on what had become a defense with lots of holes to fill. Yes, Veach was sticking to his plan to “go-young” by signing the 25 year old middle linebacker away from the Dallas Cowboys but his signing was more than that. When Brett Veach took over as the General Manager for the Chiefs last summer, it was well known that the Chiefs had a problem in the center of their defense at middle linebacker. Most fans who follow the Chiefs closely were hoping they’d take a top shelf ILB in the draft. With Derrick Johnson aging and the rest of the crew viewed as replacement parts, — besides Reggie Ragland — the Chiefs needed a huge infusion there but it didn’t happen. Yes, they drafted the unknown Ukeme Eligwe during the 5th round, but he was not viewed as the answer they were looking for.

Then along came the trade that Brett Veach orchestrated for Reggie Ragland, who now looks like the thumper the Chiefs have been looking for to play next to DJ for a decade. But, DJ was on his last legs. So, what does Brett Veach do? He promises to be active when Free Agency began and he’s not only stayed true to his word, but he appears to have fixed the Inside Linebacking corp of he Chiefs in less than a year.

Anthony Hitchens was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 4th round of the 2014 NFL draft. He went to college at Iowa. He ran a 4.74, 40-yard dash at the combine including a 4.45, 20-yard shuttle and a 7.15, 3-cone drill. In his junior season he led the Big-10 in tackles with 124 and he also had 112 tackles his senior year. Hitchens has averaged 50 tackles per year during his 4 years in Dallas but only played 52% of the defensive snaps. You can either say he’s got fresh legs of he wasn’t a three-down linebacker. Since the Chiefs are needing a linebacker who can help stop the run, Hitchens is the right man for the job. If he can prove to be a three-down guy who can cover backs out of the backfield well, it will make this signing look even better.

In college, Hitchens was called, “an aggressive tackler who flows fast to the ball.”  Nolan Nawrocki of NFL.com said of Anthony Hitchens coming out, that he, “tends to play narrow-based and get rooted out of the hole on inside runs… very average cover instincts.”

Since college, Hitchens looks like he’s developed some coverage skills… but may still need to come off the field for an extra safety… when the Chiefs get one.

ILB Anthony Hitchens was rated with a score of 80.8 in 2017 by ProFootball Focus. PFF grades are added up as each play and each game of the season goes along by giving a player a score somewhere between +2 down to a -2. So, the higher the grades for the season, the better. So, while Bobby Wagner of the Seattle Seahawks was considered the best ILB in the NFL in 2017 with a PFF score of 93.3, consider that he played 93% of his teams snaps. In the meantime, Anthony Hitchens played 52.2% of the Cowboys snaps in 2017 but had a cumulative score of 80.8.

Following, you’ll find a good breakdown on Anthony Hitchens plusses and minuses. He may not be tall, he’s only 6-foot-0 but, he still plays like an enforcer. Just what the Chiefs need in the middle next to Reggie Ragland.

Since you asked… here’s a highlight reel of Anthony Hitchens from 2017. Be sure and check out his tackle of the Chargers RB Melvin Gordon t the 1:04 mark.

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